Brother Cadfael is a monk who specializes in herbal remedies.... and murder! The Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters is a very good example of an historical cozy mystery.  Before there were forensic pathologists and laboratories a la CSI, many times murders passed as accidents. But not so while Brother Cadfael was around! He could put the Miami, New York, and any other city's CSI unit to shame! And, he did all of this using utensils such as spoons, knives, and bottles, not all of those television fancy fantasy techniques for him! Brother Cadfael could tell you the "who, what, when, where, how, and even why" facts needed to solve a murder or crime.

Katherine Hall Page   With a BA from Wellesley, an MA from Tufts, and a Doctorate from Harvard, it's no wonder that Katherine Hall Page is now the first person to ever receive Best First Novel, Best Novel, and Best Short Story in the entire history of Malice Domestic!

Robin Paige   aka Susan Wittig Albert & husband Bill Albert... Victorian Mystery Series...

Linda Palmer   Her young widow sleuth is a writer for a soap opera...

Stuart Palmer    aka Jay Stewart... His more famous series featured an older, spinster sleuth who "works with" a police officer, who considers her both a friend and a nuisance.  This combination of female sleuth/policeman "friend and foe" was perfected by early authors such as Palmer... in the 1930s!

Sara Paretsky   V. I. Warshawski series...

Barbara Parker    A New York Times Bestselling author, Parker was previously a prosecuting attorney. One of this website's visitors recommended Parker's successful Suspicion mystery series to me. I have yet to read her books, but have definitely added Parker to my list of authors to read!

Robert B. Parker   I have to confess that I have not read any of Parker's novels... yet. I just became aware that he wrote the Spenser (for Hire) books, and also the Jesse Stone mystery series. I just saw my first Jesse Stone movie and I am hooked!

James Patterson   Not Cozy... Police Procedural... Alex Cross, psychologist series & the Women's Murder Club series. Both are best sellers.... Also, I just found out that he is writing a "Young Adults" series. I know I have said this before, but I absolutely love it when established authors write books for younger readers...

Richard North Patterson   Can you tell from reading his books that he was an Assistant Attorney General of Ohio? Although he doesn't write cozies, I enjoy him immensely.

Iain Pears:  Pears first got his doctorate at Oxford in Art History, and then discovered his knack for writing mysteries which take place in the art world, and feature Jonathan Argyll, a British art historian and dealer. Pears is not only a historian and author, but also has worked as a television correspondent/consultant.

Joanne Pence   With a master's degree in journalism, it is no small wonder that Pence has an award-winning series that features a journalist. Unlike Pence, however, her main character is a gourmet cook...

Louise Penny    Penny, a journalist, hosted radio talk shows on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation before deciding to write novels full-time. Her Three Pines mysteries have won many prestigious mystery book awards... including the Anthony, Barry, Dylis, New Blood Dagger, and Arthur Ellis awards.

Anne Perry  I haven't read any of her novels, but she has a lot of fans. She has several British series to choose from...

Elizabeth Peters  aka Barbara Michaels & Barbara Mertz... She has her doctorate (and a passion) for Egyptology. As Mertz, she writes archaeological non-fiction.

Ellis Peters  aka Edith Pargeter... Brother Cadfael is an absolutely wonderful series to become addicted to... Also, Peters wrote a series about the British Felse family of detectives....

Rhona Petrie   aka Clare Curzon, Eileen-Marie Duell Buchanan, Marie Buchanan... That's a lot of pseudonyms/names for a Vedy British author of Vedy many series...

Nancy Pickard    Pickard has two series of her own: the Marie Lightfoot  series, and the Jenni Cane series. She collaborated with Virginia Rich on the fourth Eugenia Potter mystery novel, and wrote the next two books in that series.

Cathy Pickens     Pickens writes about what she knows... both she and her main character (Avery Andrews) are lawyers and live in the Carolinas. Don't expect to find recipes in Pickens' Southern Fried Mystery Series... for that you can get reference a cookbook!

Suzanne Price    Price is actually a husband and wife writing team. They just put out their first Grime Solvers Mystery in '07...

Sandra West Prowell   A series set in Montana...

Mary Monica Pulver  aka Monica Ferris & half of the duo who wrote as Margaret Frazer for the first of the Sister Frevisse novels.  Ferris writes a needlecraft mystery series and Pulver writes an equestrian mystery series.

Ann Purser    Days of the week mystery series set in a small, English village....

Monica Quill   aka Ralph McInerny.... As Quill, the series is Sister Mary Teresa, living in Chicago.....

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